Chapter 1
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It was a Monday morning when it all started…
The rain gently pittered and pattered against my room’s window that gazed upon the apartments, cars, and sidewalks down below. It was the start of summer break, but it was a little unusual for it to rain, especially during a time like this in the year.
I slowly got up from my bed, stretching out my arms as I let out an exhausted yawn taking in the atmosphere, the familiarity of this place gives a gentle cold numb feeling against my skin. Posters of my hyperfixations plastered all over the walls, plants hung high from above in pots, a drawer against the wall next to my desk, and clothes hanging up in the closet.
I slowly directed my attention over to my homemade models, reminding me of how I stayed up the night before, working on a project of human anatomy for the science fair coming up. Life sized paper machete models of each layer, all painted and decorated, with labels sticking out to show each part of the system. They stood by my desk, staring right back at me, calling my name for those minor fixes. My feet hit the floor, letting out a soft thump, hypnotized as I walked over to the skeleton model, poking at the stray pieces of paper making sure everything was correct and in the right positions.
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“It seems alright…” I mutter quietly, continuing to examine.
A loud boisterous knock pounds at my door, pounding loudly as I hear a voice,
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“Let me in! Damn it!”
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I jumped, slightly startled, as I immediately realized who it was.
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“Come on in, Dante!” I call out as I now examine the muscle system, some of the red paper sticking out and I look in frustration, opening my desk drawer, looking for glue or something to stick it back into place.
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The door flings upon as Dante yawns and raises up a bag, “You slept in very late ya’ know? It’s lunch time, so I brought you some fast food!”
I look a little confused as I smile, “Ah, yes, my favorite food, Jack-in-the-Crack.” I joke softly with a tired laugh.
“You know? It’s not hibernation time for you anymore, dude, no more winter. I know you’ve been working your butt off on this project but like… you need a break.”
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I roll my eyes in response to his comment, “I’m almost done, it just needs a few tweaks and-“
Dante grabs my wrist as he sighs, “Kiara, look, you need a break. The county fair is next week.”
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“Take. A. Day. Off…”
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He continues, “You promised we would go check out the library for the new Witch Brew series. If you don’t pause, I’ll eat your amatomy.”
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“I mean- ana, ama-whatever it is called! I’ll eat your freaky-ah models, and make your psedo skeleton model into a xylophone!” His cheeks puffed a dark red.
I roll my eyes once more as I look at him and smirk, “Fine… I will come with you, especially since I promised.”
I got up and stretched from my curved back position, “I will be right back, I have to change.”
Dante leaves the room to let me change for a moment before coming back after I changed. I decided to wear ripped jeans, and a worn out dark green sweater with a pair of red converse, something very basic and plain for an outing like this.
Dante rolls his eyes, “Can’t you dress up in a more fashionable style like me?” A teasing glint in his eyes with a smirk completely drawn across his face, doing a pose.
I punched him in the shoulder as we walked out of my room and through the hallway before I was stopped by my mother’s voice, “Kiara!”
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I let out a frustrated sigh, “Yes?”
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“Don’t forget your umbrella!” Her voice scolds.
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“I won’t!” I call out before looking back at a basket filled with our family’s umbrellas, standing still in a corner next to the entryway door.
I grabbed my umbrella as me and Dante walked out, him shutting the door behind the both of us as we started to head down the apartment complex’s hallway. The sound of rain became increasingly louder to our ears as we walked down a couple flights of stairs before reaching the first floor.
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A faint cackling found could be heard until it grew louder and louder until we entered the lobby area where we could see a caricature of bellhop before us behind the front desk, a goofy smile plastered all over, stretched wide, grinning from ear to ear like a cheshire cat.
He greeted us as he let out a cackle, “Why hello there again, my friends! Where are ya’ heading off to today?!”
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Mike was… Mike. His sickly ill ginger hair was all over the place, frizzy, crazy, and certain curls stuck in the air that never seem to be able to be combed out. His skin was disgustingly pale, and his dark grey eyes were deep and sunken in, making him seem a lot older than what his actual age was. His uniform, tacky and tattered, covered in stains and dirt with a crooked tie and wrinkled clothes. He has been like this since I moved here, both in appearance and annoying personality, really desperately annoying personality…
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I shrug, “To the library, Mike.”
He cackles again like a maniac, his constant high pitched voice gave me a headache, “So you’re going to the library, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Aren’t you? Aren’t you?!” He repeated the phrase a couple times in an old ragtime song fashion. It freaked out Dante but I was quite used to it.
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I let out a sigh, deadpanned, “Look Mike, we got places to be, okay?”
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Mike tips his hat goodbye as opens the door, “Bye! Bye! Bye! Don’t trip and die!”
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“Yeah, yeah…” I scoff as Dante trails next to me in confusion, exiting the apartments.
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“Is that normal?” Dante asks.
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“Yep,” I nod as we walk a sidewalk, taking a turn on the grey lined paved pathway.
The library was close by, only a three minute walk from my place. It was known for always having the new releases of books and series, along with being one of the oldest established ones in Seattle. Dante and I used to go there all the time during the school year for our study group sessions, which made visiting it a very nostalgic feeling to me.
A couple moments passed by between us, the rain droplets hitting on top of our heads gently, the cars moving past us, the wind gently blowing through this concrete jungle.
“Well… here we are.” Dante said as he looked above the stairs to the entrance of the library.
We walked in unison as we entered the library, our arm swings and steps in the same rhythm and in step, the familiar scent of cedar wood, old books, and the musty tinge of paper hits my nose immediately.
I smiled softly as we looked around for the Pride and Prejudice book that Dante mentioned, but it seemed to be nowhere.
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“Damn it…” Dante muttered in frustration as he looked all around, nothing in sight.
“How about we split up and meet back here? That way we can get more coverage to find the series.” I suggest in a cheerful tone, trying to lighten the mood somehow.
Dante looks at me deadpanned as he rubs the back of his head, “Sure, I guess. That could work…”
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I nod as I look over at my side of the library as I walk off, splitting up from him. It was a bit daunting from the looks of it; books lining all shelves to the brim, papers piling on the tables, and pens scattered on the floor. It was quite stark from how I remembered from the study sessions, I thought they kept themselves clean but I guess not.
I went to the middle of a circle of bookshelves, surrounding me like I was in an encased clearing. I looked around, no familiar covers of that particular book anywhere, just dusty books that included common titles like,“Twilight, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Dracula”, nothing that really popped out to me. I walked over to one of the behinds of one of the book cases, just to see if maybe someone somehow hid something, but nothing was there.
I sigh in frustration, rubbing my hand through my coarse curls as I kick the ground letting a soft scraping sound harmonize into an echo.
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Where could it be at…?
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I took another few minutes, my hands brushing through the covers of several dusty books, leaving streaks of musty dusty brown on the tips of my fingers. The lights softly flicker, the atmosphere seems to calm for a moment, the rain letting out notes on the roof, as I smile softly, finally at a decent peace.
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I closed my eyes as a response, drinking it all in for a moment, it seemed… tranquil… familiar…
I sluggishly calm out of this state of mind, turning around-
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I see something in the clearing I haven’t seen before, a soft glow that reflects the dancing light rays from above, staring right back at me. It called out to me, like a small voice beckoning me to come closer… I slowly step towards it, my legs feeling like lead, as if something is trying to hold me back, but I can’t but continue to go forward. When I reached the location of this foreign object, I bent down, and picked it up between my fingers. It was small… smooth with no bumps and was the size of a large one dollar bill coin. It was a pale gold, brand new looking and had a rather strange engraving.
A… staff…? It looked more like a walking stick than anything. It looked very real as it was imprinted on it, all the grooves and lines carved into tiny details, it seemed to be crafted with care. But… What is it doing here? I know it wasn’t there before…?
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What the hell…?
“What in the world…?” I mutter to myself as I rub the coin between my hands, the metal felt cold and very real; it felt smoothed yet rough, a few bumps and crevices I could feel. Everything seemed to slow down around me… a cool breeze brushed through my hair. Something seemed… off… the wave of familiarity in the surrounding areas seemed to disappear…
A book clashed loudly to the ground, confusing and cutting through the deafening silence… then another fell down… and another… and another… and another… until-
I look around in confusion and sudden disarray as books and papers seem to fly around, flying on to the ground and making loud banging noises with the ground shaking violently, papers flying and hitting my face and everywhere else.
A few voices start to speak and they echo an incoherent language, slowly getting louder and louder… the papers suddenly slow down around me, the books, the rain, all the noise, movement- everything, slowed and moved, sedated in every way possible…
The coin glowed brightly in my hand, I start to feel a burn and I jump back in surprise, letting it drop down, echoing its chimes and it rang loudly in my ear… it getting brighter and brighter till the whole room flashed- and I was left standing there, jaw agape and stunned.
Everything around me suddenly stopped, everything seemed… fine…? No books were scattered, no papers, not much noise, not much… anything bad- or good, happened…? Just neutral…
I looked around, shaken by what happened. I slowly directed my attention downwards to see the coin again… but… it was gone. My hand out to catch nothing?
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“What the…?” I say to myself as I collapse onto the floor as I sit down, staring at where the staff used to be.
My breathing becomes stark and shallow, quickening a lot… as my body shakes as I pull myself slowly as I try to process the situation.
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“Kiara?!” A voice echoes in my head, sounding quite worried.
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“Kiara!” The voice speaks again.
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“Kiara!” The voice seemed more aggressive and worried at the same time. A feeling of fingers grasp and grip hard on my shoulders as I am pulled back, a familiar voice bringing me back to reality.
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“Kiara!” An exasperated sigh soon follows after my name.
I looked over to see the familiar dark brown hair, caramel honey colored skin, worried mocha eyes that stared back at me.
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“Yeah…?” I say, confused and dissociated.
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”Are you okay?” Dante asks, squeezing my shoulders.
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I nod softly, “Yeah, totally…”
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He sighs, “You looked like you saw a ghost!”
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”I-I’m not sure what I saw…” My voice stammers.
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“Well… maybe we should take you back home?” He suggests.
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I shrug, “Did you find your book?”
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He shakes his head, “No, it’s fine, though.”
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He slowly pulls me up as he supports me, “Dude, you look like you were run over by a dump truck.”
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I roll my eyes, “Whatever…”
We slowly walked out of the book case in case of clearing, going towards the exit.
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“Did you find what you guys were looking for, sweeties?” One of the librarians at the desk.
Both of us shake our heads in response at her inquiry.
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“No, today wasn’t our lucky day I guess.” I shrug along with Dante as we exit the area.
and then Add to home screen.